Icon: enlarge
Many young Chileans are calling for a new constitution
Photo: MARTIN BERNETTI / AFP
On the way to a new country, thousands of Chileans have been brutally injured as a result of police violence, some have lost their eyes, some even their lives.
Hundreds of thousands have been calling for more social equality, political and economic reforms since the beginning of the mass protests a year ago triggered by the price increases on the subway in Santiago.
Now the country is facing a historic upheaval: on Sunday the Chileans will vote on a reform of the constitution.
The current one is still considered the legacy of the Pinochet dictatorship.
The citizens decide in a referendum whether the constitution should be rewritten and by whom - through a citizens' assembly or through a mixed convention of parliamentarians and citizens.
According to forecasts, more than two thirds of Chileans want reform.
Icon: enlarge
Despite the pandemic, Chileans continue to take to the streets for change
Photo: MARTIN BERNETTI / AFP
The reform process is being accompanied by rallies across the country: on the anniversary of the mass protests last weekend, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in the capital Santiago alone; even before that, smaller protests had flared up again and again despite the lockdown.
Young Chileans report here why they joined the protest movement, what needs to change - and how they are committed to change.
Bárbara Belén Brito Carrasco, 30: "We need a society that does not function according to the logic of the rich"
Icon: enlarge
Bárbara Belén Brito Carrasco at a meeting of the feminist organization "Pan y Rosas"
Photo: Simon Bousquet
"The protests on the anniversary a week ago were impressive. We were more than 10,000 people who protested from morning to evening in Santiago - the largest demonstrations since the outbreak of the pandemic. We demand a fairer society.
At the school where I teach, for example, I see every day how precarious the public education system is.
In state schools it is sometimes so cold that the students cannot concentrate or it rains into the classrooms.
Often there are 50 students in a room, so it is impossible to try more creative teaching methods, nor can we take care of the mental health problems of individual children who suffer from poverty, domestic violence or hunger.
On the other hand, the more you pay, the better private schools you can attend.
Icon: enlarge
The answer to protests in Chile is often repression
Photo: RODRIGO GARRIDO / REUTERS
In the past few years we have never received an answer to protests from the various governments, only repression.
We need a society that does not function according to the logic of the rich, the entrepreneurs and the old parties - therefore it should not be representatives of established parties who determine the process of a new constitution.
I want President Sebastián Piñera to resign after all the human rights violations;
and we are currently launching the "Comando por una Asamblea Constituyente Libre y Soberana" - a campaign for a truly independent constituent assembly in which workers, poorer people, women and indigenous people also have decision-making power. "
Alexander Vergara, 32, musician and filmmaker: "I've seen so much violence, including dead people"
Icon: enlarge
Chile's military police are notorious for their brutal behavior - Alexander Vergara saw it himself
Photo: private
"During the mass protests I worked my way from the back to the front: First I diverted cars, I helped to carry away the injured, at some point I stood in the front row with poor people, but also with lawyers, to shield the protesters from the military police.
I've seen so much violence, including dead.
I was covered in blood almost every day.
Once when I was building a barricade, a policeman beat me with a baton and broke two ribs.
The state is fighting brutally because it has realized that it has a lot to lose.
The Chilean military police emerged during the dictatorship and still rely on strategies from that time: just strike.
As a schoolboy I started protesting for a fairer society and I know that you also beat minors.
They don't know what human rights violations are - stripping people naked, torturing them, that's standard in Chile.
Icon: enlarge
"Amnesty International" denounces the targeted, excessive use of force by security forces in Chile
Photo: ESTEBAN PAREDES / ATON CHILE / imago images / Aton Chile
The security forces live in a parallel society with their own pensions, their own hospitals and schools;
There is still a cold war mentality there.
They consider people who go to demonstrate communists to be fought against.
We have to completely dissolve the military police and create a new national police force that has no military structures and that is civilly controlled.
We need fewer weapons and more education: Police officers also need better training - whoever is supposed to protect the laws has to know them.
Sunday is the most important day in modern Chile history for me: we are trying to write our own constitution and it just feels like we're going to win.
I'm slowly starting to function again, but I can't take violence.
I had nightmares for months.
At the moment I am also mobilizing others, voting, and editing clips for social networks informing about the constitutional reform.
If we manage to establish a new constitution and a social democracy in the next two years, then hopefully in the future police officers will be there to accompany demonstrations - and not to crush them. "
Alex Dixon Fajardo, 25, student: "Many don't know how to survive"
Icon: enlarge
Alex Dixon Fajardo (on the right) is part of the protest movement in Valparaiso
Photo: private
"I live in Valparaiso and last October saw how the wave of protests overran the capital, Santiago, and not only more and more students, but also workers and families joined the movement. My friends and I wanted to bring the protests to Valparaiso too so we all spontaneously took to the streets - it was exciting and beautiful - and the moment when we were finally heard.
Many people in Chile are frustrated with how the government is running the country.
In Valparaiso, historic buildings are crumbling, and many students across the country are in debt with high student loans.
The gap between citizens and the political elite is extreme.
They are completely disconnected from reality, they lack empathy.
For example, the politicians knew very well that people would have nothing to eat if they weren't allowed to go to work - nevertheless, there was no financial support during the lockdown.
Icon: enlarge
During the pandemic, volunteers collected food donations and cooked for those in need
Photo: Sebastian Silva / ZUMA Wire / imago images
In the pandemic, poverty has become even more visible.
Many have lost their jobs or they work in the informal sector and do not know how to survive.
I am active in the church and we have organized an
olla común
, a communal kitchen, to alleviate hunger a bit - since June we have been distributing lunch to 70 families.
Right now I'm not going to protests because of Corona.
I don't want to endanger my family and I can't get sick because I really want to vote on Sunday.
A new constitution would be progress and ease people's anger a little - but it's just a start.
Before the pandemic, we discussed the political changes we needed at citizens' assemblies, and now we are organizing Zoom forums.
There is a lot of hatred, intolerance and society is polarized.
But I want us to move forward together, although we think differently. "
Valentina Pinera, 32, geographer: "We need cities for everyone"
Icon: enlarge
Valentina Pinera wants resources and cities to be shared more fairly
Photo: private
"In the protests, large and small, that are taking place almost every day, you can feel how tired but also how angry people are. The neoliberal economic model that was established during the dictatorship has exacerbated inequality, not just to make it more extreme Poverty but also led to a miserable quality of life for the majority of the population.
We need the right to a decent life for everyone, so far economic interests have come first.
In Chile, all sectors that should be public have been privatized - from health and education to water.
Icon: enlarge
Protests out of hunger: Social conflicts continue to increase in the pandemic
Photo: SEBASTIAN SILVA / Agencia EFE / imago images
Corporations brutally exploit the environment and destroy sensitive ecosystems, for example through mines, deforestation, industrial waste or salmon farms.
Our icebergs, which are important as water supplies, are melting as a result of exploitation and climate change.
Chile also has some of the world's most polluting cities.
I am involved in social organizations like "Ciudad Feminista", an initiative that advocates urban development and environmental policy with a feminist perspective.
It is important that our resources become common again - and we need cities for everyone.
The asymmetrical balance of power is reflected in cities like Santiago: Urban planning focuses primarily on economic activities such as production and consumption, but there are not enough leisure activities.
Poorer quarters have poorer equipment and hardly any trees, while the more affluent quarters have direct access to green spaces.
Santiago is focused on cars, not pedestrians or cyclists.
We also need strategies to make women and girls feel more secure.
They are exposed to sexual assault, and if we don't think about what a city should look like for everyone, dark streets, blind spots or deserted places emerge that are dangerous.
I hope that the plebiscite on Sunday does not lull the population to sleep, but rather mobilizes new protests - so that we can all get our demands through. "
Icon: The mirror
This contribution is part of the Global Society project
What is the Global Society project? Up arrow Down arrow
Under the heading Global Society, reporters from
Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe
report on injustices in a globalized world, socio-political challenges and sustainable development.
The reports, analyzes, photo series, videos and podcasts appear in the international section of SPIEGEL.
The project is long-term and will be supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) for three years.
A detailed FAQ with questions and answers about the project can be found here.
What does the funding look like in concrete terms? Up arrow Down arrow
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) is supporting the project for three years with a total of around 2.3 million euros.
Is the journalistic content independent of the foundation? Up arrow Down arrow
Yes.
The editorial content is created without any influence from the Gates Foundation.
Do other media have similar projects? Up arrow Down arrow
Yes.
Big European media like "The Guardian" and "El País" have set up similar sections on their news sites with "Global Development" and "Planeta Futuro" with the support of the Gates Foundation.
Have there already been similar projects at SPIEGEL? Up arrow Down arrow
In recent years, SPIEGEL has already implemented two projects with the European Journalism Center (EJC) and the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: The "Expedition The Day After Tomorrow" on global sustainability goals and the journalistic refugee project "The New Arrivals", as part of this several award-winning multimedia reports on the topics of migration and flight have been produced.
Where can I find all publications on Global Society? Up arrow Down arrow
The pieces can be found at SPIEGEL on the topic Global Society.